extra rice, please.

Wednesday, 1 January 2014

Anybody
who checks up on this site periodically already knows, I'm dreadful at keeping
this updated and consistent. In all honesty, I'm typically daunted at putting together something at least half way interesting or informative, and not committing the crime of tossing just any old junk on here for you to waste time on.

I do feel
that blogging and social media waves over the last 10
years or so are absolutely watering down legitimate content. It wasn't
always the case that a random mommy-of-2 has access to the same soapbox and
platform that the leader of the free world uses. English is not even my
first language and could not, with a straight face, break down most commonplace
grammatical law on prepositions.

But
here’s a thought… It’s another start of a brand new year.

As
mundane as it may seem, let’s talk new year’s resolutions.

My friend
JooJuan views all these annual personal promises and commitments as a huge load of
crap. A vow to a better and healthier
you and a pledge to make the world a happier place to live topped with an optimistic goal to reach this in 365 days is almost always
meant to be broken even before January ends.
My amusing repartees with my friend usually require a contradicting
opinion, but I somehow concur with this notion.

I was
decluttering my closet this morning and came upon a journal entry I wrote in
1997 (one of my blog followers’ birth year, I must horrifyingly note) that
lists my new year’s resolutions that year.

1.
Lose
weight.

2.
Have
inner poise, will power and general togetherness.

3.
Quit social smoking.

4.
Stand
straight and be proud of my height.

5.
Learn
Spanish.

That was
the year I went on my first month long trip across Western Europe that allowed
me to effortlessly lose weight, acquire a sense of general togetherness, vaunt
my unusual Asian height and learn a bit of conversational Spanish. But when exposed to the coolness of the
French, I chain smoked so much that month alone, enough to pollute an entire small
planet.

Achievement
of self-improvement that year was a fluke. Nicotine has always given me massive headaches so that was almost easy to give up. Numbers 1, 2 and 5 have been on my
list for more than 30 years and have pretty much become part of my bucket list. I have failed so much at these resolutions
that I now have surrendered and given myself my entire lifetime to achieve
them.

It is natural for anybody armed with hopes and dreams to come up with his own personal commitments for the New Year. It's convenient, after all. It's one day where you can Control-Alt-Delete your behaviour just because it is the first day with a date bearing a totally different ending number.

My suggestion to do instead is have small realizable goals. Let go of ambitious over-the-top promises. I'm assuming we'll be a happier lot come December.

Indulge me as I list mine:

1.
Lose
as much belly fat I possibly can with the power of crossfit.

2.
Do
3 consecutive pull-ups.

3.
Watch
Against Me! live. I don’t care if the gig is 5
hours by camel from where I live. I’m
going.

4.
Learn
5 songs on the uke without looking at the chords.

5.
Move.
On. Forward. Onward.... Okay. This is a tad dramatic. I’ll just say post at least
one entry on this blog each month.

Cheers to you little poodles for a laughter filled and interesting 2014! One love!

Monday, 30 September 2013

It
is an end of an era. Sunday evenings
will never be the same again. Chris
Hardwick will still grace the 10pm AMC slot, this time talking about the zombie
apocalypse, but even he is hurting and going through Breaking Bad withdrawal
when I caught him making a couple of Heisenberg references in a panel
discussion about Walking Dead.

I
was late to the party. My sister begged
me back in June to watch the premiere episode and let me decide based on that
alone to commit to the show. I binge watched
4 and a half seasons until the last available ep where Hank sits in the toilet
holding Whitman’s Leaves of Grass reading Gale’s note to Walter White.

My
knowledge of film and television critique is limited to classes I took in
university (I studied Film) and countless of hours spent watching tv and movies…
Breaking Bad undoubtedly is the best show on television. It is.

There
is not a weak link to be found in any part of this series. The writing,
directing, editing, music, acting, cinematography, my God the cinematography!…
I could go on and on. Creator and perfect Southern gentleman Vince Gilligan had
such a unique vision for Breaking Bad, and it is exemplified throughout the
show. Each character evolution is magnificently
written, creating a sense of tension which is escalated by the superb acting
that each cast member brings to the table.

Every
season delivers gut punching moments aided by Bryan Cranston’s masterful and
dazzling portrayal of Walter White brilliantly morphing into the monstrous
Heisenberg. For every sympathetic
moment, every time Walt saves Jesse, defends Hank or plays the benign
paterfamilias, there is a moment of monstrosity. Heisenberg’s tentacles keep unfurling, and we
end up torn between the ordinary downtrodden man we first met and the drug
kingpin sociopath we now know.

The
brilliance that Gilligan delivers is our constant astonishment as to why we,
as viewers, find deep in our hearts, that we still root for Walter White. Throughout the entire series, he insists to
his now chain smoking wife that he did it all in the name of family. And we believe him. Damnit. (I wonder though if the show had been written from Jesse's point of view..would we still feel the same way for Mr. White?)

One
of the most gut wrenching scenes in the Felina episode (series ender) shows Walt
finally admitting to Skylar, “I did it for me...... And I was really-- I was alive."It is the line where he finally redeems himself and where Gilligan
acknowledges that this story is not just about a chemistry teacher’s voyage
into crystal meth production. It’s a
story of a man and his kick-ass midlife crisis.

Apart
from numerous technical and artistic awards, Breaking Bad has earned plaudits
for its “uncannily accurate” depiction of the meth trade. I don’t know if the local drug syndicates
employ gifted chemists and crystallographers to manufacture their product, but
scientific aptitude is the last thing one associates with meth-heads. Toothlessness and bizarre behavior, yes,
though they sometimes can be talented musical prodigies like Skinny Pete and
Badger. Oh wait. They’re not real people. Ack!

Friday, 24 May 2013

I'm still alive and walking around this lovely planet. I apologize for being inactive and indolent when it comes to updating this blog. Once this crazy week is over (busiest for me cake-wise), your emails will be bombarded once again with posts from little 'ol me.

Thursday, 25 April 2013

The good old 70's... when the Philippines was under Martial Law and photographs taken with actual film looked like filtered digital Instagram photos. My older sister looks so adorably cute (she's always been the prettier one as you can see), and I, as with almost all photos up to this day, look drunk.

Wednesday, 3 April 2013

I am re-posting a birthday treat from my long-time buddy and my spirit animal, Benny, whose most evident trait I recently discovered, is that of a liar:

FLIP and HEBE

by benny

Bebsy is this
beautiful chick I met during my formative years living in Manila. It’s
not what you think. She is an old buddy who remains constant in my life
tho we live in different cities, different countries. We have this
unorthodox kinship, as she provides me every now and then bits of wisdom (she’s
3 years older therefore she thinks she’s some Jedi Master) and entertainment
with hilarious anecdotes of her sit-com of a life.

I quoted her
many twisted and perverse views on social issues, and re-posted her own warped
versions of world history which in my estimation has received the most number
of comments on my blog.

In the middle
of our recent discussion about the ongoing case of Oscar Pistorius, Bebsy
designated me as key eulogy speaker at her funeral service. (She has
this habit of jumping from one topic to another mid-conversation, saying
something completely off topic sans warning nor smooth transition, expecting you to keep up and respond.)

Mean, wicked
people, for the most part, live long evil lives, unless of course you’re Hitler
or Osama Bin Laden. Although Bebsy believes 45 is when she kicks the
bucket, considering the true nature of the way her bizarre evil mind works and
the hedonistic life she led in her mid to late 20s (to which I have been a
witness of) this woman will outlive us all.

I am going off
the cuff today and dedicate an entire blog post to Bebsy, my emblematic life
travelling companion, and show you, my readers, how our pure platonic and
almost dysfunctional relationship, that is of a heterosexual male and a
heterosexual half-female (a part of her brain is all-dude) works. I
mean, I do adore her and all, but it’s not something I tell her cos she
gets all emotional and shit.

See, it’s her
birthday today. I will try to be non-revealing and eulogize my buddy, one who I
believe is the lovechild produced from of an orgy amongst Naomi Campbell (her
mouth!), Larry David and Sylvia Plath with Lena Dunham watching on the
sideline.

1.
In our younger years, Bebsy and I had a dream of getting our own travel
show aptly called Flip & Hebe (Filipino and
Hebrew). Genius, right? Picture Lonely Planet’s Ian Wright as a
duo. Somewhere in my apartment is a notebook detailing episodes of
lost cities & cultures we’d visit and document. We would have
killed. It was a bloody brilliant concept. It is important that
this is the first thing I mention in my eulogy. Her death
notwithstanding, I have not given up on that dream.

2.
Bebsy and I met at a bar owned by her first boyfriend. My buddies
and I frequented that bar, located near the International School where I had worked. She would come in to occasionally hang out or help wait tables.

She never
gives this historical fact to anyone. She’s long obliterated the memory
of that Ex and she thinks that giving the story that we met at a bar makes her
cheap and desperate. (her views always are off base)

My buddy
Alejandro pined for her longingly. Like most regulars at the bar, he was
a foreigner. A native Honduran living in Manila. After 3 shots of
whisky he would romanticize Bebsy’s exotic beauty and hounded her to no
end to run away with him to Lisbon and raise a family. She shone in the tender light
of his gruff adoration, but she always responded with a funny
comeback. She never took him seriously, never thought of herself as the
beautiful and sensuous woman Alejandro saw her for. Unbeknownst to her,
she was his first love. She broke the poor guy's heart. It’s my
all-time favorite memory of Ironmike's.

3.
On top of our travel show, a mutual love for the same music and mutual hatred for the same politicos,
Bebsy and I bonded over books. We shared a collection of Maugham, Camus
and Salinger. We both identified with Holden Caulfield and upped one
another with Catcher in the Rye quotes. Man, we sounded like pretentious
assholes.

When she broke
up with the Ex, she wrote me a beautifully written account of the bitter
break-up. I couldn't care less what happened, but through that email I
discovered her flair for writing. In my otherwise drab life that year I
got excited. Like a parent who suddenly discovers that his child has an
innate ability to fly. Not quite, but close.

I continue to
encourage her to write. I made her set up a blog. What is penned
on extra rice, please does not even scratch the surface
of her gift. She is just too lazy to write and hone her craft. (Genius of
a blog title, I may add, because it was MY idea; it's her perennial request over
a Filipino meal.)

Our friendship
flourished because of many hours talking about existential and absurdist
bullshit over mojitos, exotic meals and many email exchanges over the
years; some were filled with great life secrets and regrets, most of the time
with profanity-induced nonsense. She is honest and raw with the written
word. You see her true self when she speaks through her pen.

4.
Bebsy’s potentially intimidating confidence, (one part Zen-stillness,
another part her large, bored-looking, judgemental eyes) is undercut by her warm
sweet sincere smile, a discrepancy that can be disconcerting.

She looks like
an evil bitch at first glance. It’s her height not very common for
Filipinos, that protruding mouth, her face that looks like she’s criticizing
you and letting you know she’d rather be some place else, when all she’s doing
really is recalling what she ate for breakfast that’s making her stomach
upset.

The secret to
her social success is that she’s genuinely interested – not in all subjects,
but certainly in all people. She enjoys listening to people’s stories,
always asking questions without false enthusiasm and nosiness. She finds
valuable lessons in people's experiences. She does not fake it.
That’s how charming she can be and why people generally get smitten with
her.

My girlfriend
Holly was initially not impressed with Bebsy when I’d talk about my life in
Manila. “I don’t trust that one. She’s up to no good.”

Ten minutes
into their first meeting, the 2 were deconstructing ‘Talented Mr. Ripley’ and
cackling in laughter while sharing travel experiences to Sorrento, Italy.
Holly understands my connection with Bebsy, and until most recently actually
appreciates it.

5.
In a social setting, I always have a looming dark cloud over my head and
Bebsy is little miss sunshine personified. I am the freak at a party,
finding solace in the corner and people watching with my warm beer. She was
my social crutch and my secret weapon to a lot of party obligations in the
90’s. I can never articulate her brand of humour. It's dark,
self-deprecating most of the time, affiliative yet aggressive especially
around close friends. She finds comedy in any situation, and I have to
honestly say, that is one of her greatest traits.

I am astounded
with the infinite supply of trivial information she keeps in her head. It's annoying. She has vast knowledge of films, books, music, theatre, history and different
cultures that it makes me thrilled when she has the occasional mental
blackout. She speaks in movie quotes and bursts into song even at
the most inappropriate times.

6.
Ironically, when she's affectionate towards someone, she could be
mean-spirited, overly critical and potty-mouthed. This is her tender
self to her treasured lot: people whom she holds dear in her life, those she
lovingly calls Ass, Nerd, Douche, Idiot and Bastard; the very few people who
understand her bordering-on-psycho yet comical way of showing how she cares and loves.

With our
little group of 2, she monopolizes conversations. I give her a story of
my terrible bout with stomach flu, she would cut me off and text a photo of a
spot on her neck.

“Im glad
you’re better. But check out that mole. You think it’s cancerous?”

I give
slightly more of a free pass to her, since she is constantly surrounded with
loud, demanding people in her life, seeking her attention and service
24/7.

On the phone I
listen to her complain or talk about whatever mundane issue she needs to get
off her chest, compelling me to robotically say “Uh-huh” or “no
kidding” while focusing intently on a game on tv.

On video
chat, as I seek her advise about a fight with Holly, she gazes at me
with the most sympathetic look of concern, meanwhile off camera, she’s texting a friend about a recent episode of Dexter or Breaking Bad.

That’s how we
roll. We are aware how we bullshit each other with our listening
skills, but the fact is, a simple nod or "uh-huh" is enough for us
both.

7.
At the risk of sounding like a wuss, Bebsy scares me when she’s angry.
She is quiet. She is never confrontational. She gets intensely mad
when she feels abused and disrespected and when this happens, she walks away.
Disappears. A massive character flaw, I'd always say. She has
her own way of dealing with anger which involves her being isolated and alone.

We've had our
share of dare-I-say 'girly fights' and with me, she has always managed to
verbalize what upsets her. What I did wrong. What I should've done.
What big dick I was. She is relentless. Guilty or not, I
still feel at fault and find myself having a great need to apologize.
Seeing her hurt is the last thing anybody would want. That’s her
genius. And I hate her for it.

8.
We are not a mushy duo. I’ve seen Bebsy cry many times. But she makes it
look so comical that it's hard to take her seriously. In most cases, I
would shake her, turn her inside out and make her realize she’s wasting both
our times. Then I’d feel a need to give her a good smack in the head.
Seriously.

One time tho
she let out a soft, silent sob. One that she didn’t want me to see.
That was very painful and heartbreaking to watch. I was bewildered and
saddened by the bad hand life has dealt her during that difficult time, and
when I saw her that vulnerable right before my eyes, my inherent reaction was
to say nothing, just be present and hold her hand.

That’s the
thing about Bebsy. One moment you want to wring her neck or smack her in
the head, the next moment you want to take care of her and reassure her that
you’ll never leave her side.

9.
She sends text messages about almost everything: photos of her
injured body parts, questions she can easily Google but too lazy to do on her
own. She sends messages so confusing they are actually meant for someone
else.

I complained
about this manic texting once, and when she stopped, I found myself strangely
missing it, missing her. Because her family and her very close circle
of friends are all geographically out of her reach, it's her way of protecting
the linkage. In her mind these random texts are her way of saying ‘I’m
thinking of you. I'm making an effort to keep this relationship going. I value
your response. So respond, Godammit.”

She complains
about sending expensive international texts but has no problem calling me in
Madrid from her cellular phone in Toronto to read a whole David
Sedaris essay she thought was so funny. (FYI Nothing is funny at 3am when
you’re doing your damnest to adjust to local time by sleeping soundly. So I
don't think it was unreasonable for me to be un-amused. Sweet Jesus.)

10.
She is never big-headed about her real remarkable talents (she's cunning
& smart, puts the CakeBoss to shame & has the voice of an angel),
but very arrogant about the ones she clearly does not possess.

I’m very
intuitive, she
boasts. No, she’s not.

I know what
people are thinking. No,
she doesn’t.

I’m a wiz
at Math. Algebra,
yes, she proved that one time, but Basic Arithmetic, hell no. Tell her
your birth year, ask what your age is, her response,"Fuck.... Math."

I am a
great basketball player.
No one can prove this. No one has seen her play, not even Hans Smit, her
own university phys ed teacher. (She bribed him with hard-to-find
imported smokes so she didn’t have to go through a whole trimester of gym!)

11.
She is the sweetest and kindest friend any man can ever have.
That, I can attest to. She is thoughtful, selfless, loyal and trust
worthy. She's like a big kid, really. She remembers birthdays and
knows her friends’ mothers’ first names. She has this unique calming
personality that makes everybody feel comfortable around her, making
people she's just met feel like they're long lost friends.

She genuinely
cares. Her kindness is beyond compare. She would take a bullet for
people she loves the way she would do for her own children. The truth is,
no one is like her.

Bebsy is the
only person I can truthfully talk to and be myself without a shred of
shame. We share our failures and victories, I confide in her the secrets
of my heart, and with each other, we are transparent. With her, I can stand in
the honest truth of who I am, without any tinge of judgment from her, and that
is the gift she continually gives me in life. The great gift anyone can get by
simply being her friend.

It’s pretty
cool that I have a buddy like that who just happens to be a chick, you know?